In the packaging industry it is often necessary to transfer containers, packages and/or goods onto a moving conveyor. For example, it may be necessary to transfer filled cartons from a packaging machine onto an outfeed conveyor which then routes the containers to other locations in the packaging facility. Typically, containers are laterally loaded onto the conveyor by a mechanism which pushes them onto the conveyor from the side. One such device is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,778 to Blackman. Such a design is problematic because the containers often tip over when they are transferred to the moving conveyor. If the containers tip over they can jam the line, causing undesirable downtime for the packaging operation.
It is also known to provide conveyors with baskets or compartments configured to receive a preselected number of the transferred items and maintain the items in the desired orientation on the conveyor. Examples of these devices are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,642 to Hunter and U.S. Pat. No. 2,827,148 to Engleson et al. Although such designs can reduce the chance of container tipping, they are undesirable because the conveyors must be specifically configured to receive the transferred item. In addition, such designs increase the difficulty of timing transfer of the item onto the conveyor.
Another approach is to employ indexing or intermittently operating conveyors. A system employing intermittent conveyors is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,093 to Blezard. Indexing conveyors are undesirable because they reduce the throughput time of the operation.